Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Online Exhibition: The Legacy of Ancient Palmyra

The Getty Research Institute's first online exhibition, The Legacy of Ancient Palmyra,
features the Institute's rare print and photograph collections
documenting an important archaeological site that has recently undergone
devastating changes amid an ongoing war in Syria. The project was
conceived as a means to complement the Institute's exceptional holdings
with an innovative design that creates a compelling digital experience.
The online presentation of this exhibition aims to reach a global
audience.

In this 21st century, war in Syria has irrevocably changed the ancient
caravan city of Palmyra, famed as a meeting place of civilizations since
its apogee in the mid-2nd to 3rd century CE. The Romans and Parthians
knew Palmyra as a wealthy oasis metropolis, a center of culture and
trade on the edge of their empires. Stretching some three kilometers
across the Tadmurean desert, the ruins of Palmyra, like all ruins, stand
as bearers of meaning marking their place in history. For centuries,
traveling artists and explorers have documented the site in former
states of preservation. Created as a tribute to Palmyra, this online
exhibition captures the site as it was photographed for the first time
by Louis Vignes in 1864 and illustrated in the 18th century by the
architect Louis-François Cassas. Their works contribute to Palmyra's
legacy, one that goes far beyond the stones of its once great buildings.

The primary focus of the project is notice and comment on open access material relating to the ancient world, but I will also include other kinds of networked information as it comes available.

The ancient world is conceived here as it is at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University, my academic home at the time AWOL was launched. That is, from the Pillars of Hercules to the Pacific, from the beginnings of human habitation to the late antique / early Islamic period.

AWOL is the successor to Abzu, a guide to networked open access data relevant to the study and public presentation of the Ancient Near East and the Ancient Mediterranean world, founded at the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago in 1994. Together they represent the longest sustained effort to map the development of open digital scholarship in any discipline.